EIT DIGITAL CHAMPIONS

Hicham Najem has joined EIT Digital as Fundraising Specialist. Based in Brussels and reporting to Daniel Auriel, Hicham brings a wealth of experience in investment management, fundraising strategies, and business development.

Hicham's impressive career includes his role as Managing Partner at Aradii Capital, where he successfully raised USD 280 million for clients. He has also held senior positions at HSBC Private Bank, Tactical Global Management, and Brevan Howard Asset Management, where he demonstrated expertise in portfolio management and financial strategy.

Hicham holds an MBA from INSEAD and an MSc in Engineering and Business Management from the Catholic University of Louvain, graduating summa cum laude.

Seasoned venture manager with experience of some +120 direct investments mainly in Nordics and Baltics area. He has been a board member of all direct investments he has executed and served several years in Invest Europe venture council, FVCA board and is currently chairman of Nordic Venture Network. He is more like generalist than focused specialist what comes to technologies. He has always protected founder’s interest in complex deal structures and kept neutral professionalism in deal making. Based on his long experience in the venture industry he has seen several cycles in the market and knows that timing is sometimes more important than maximum value.

Based in London, Ben is a member of the EIT Digital Access to Finance team.  A seasoned technology financing and growth advisor and investor, Ben has been serving tech CEOs for more than two decades, helping them grow their businesses, getting them ready for new investment, and helping them secure financing investors based in the UK and across Europe and around the world.

Daniel is as "deeptech" as they get. He started his career in chemical and pharmaceutical R&D in large corporation such as Bayer and Stora Enso, before taking on various innovation, strategy and business assignments focused on advanced technologies in Germany, China, Israel and other regions. His work resulted in 7 products brought to the market, 1 business unit & 1 regional office created, and 1 new business model implemented.

Since 2015, he followed his passion for entrepreneurship & investments as VC investment manager (Capricorn Venture Partners), as venture partner for a start-up incubator/accelerator, and as angel investor as well as start-up advisor. He joined EIT Digital in 2019 where he covers the DACH region and has helped successfully close multiple fundraisings in areas such as MedTech/HealthTech, PropTech, Big Data, ClimateTech, AgroTech, etc.